{"id":4989,"date":"2011-02-07T09:41:36","date_gmt":"2011-02-07T14:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingottawa.ca\/?p=4989"},"modified":"2011-02-07T09:41:36","modified_gmt":"2011-02-07T14:41:36","slug":"gridlock-by-policy-canada-all-alone-with-no-transit-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/02\/07\/gridlock-by-policy-canada-all-alone-with-no-transit-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Gridlock by policy: Canada all alone with no transit strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cross-posted from Public Transit in Ottawa<\/a><\/em><\/div>\n

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\nThe New Democrat Party of Canada has a long history of making transit-related announcements, a couple recent ones being a couple of bills to protect transit operators<\/a>, and before that–during the 2008 federal election campaign–a series of funding announcements<\/a> in major Canadian cities.<\/p>\n

Last week, Toronto NDP MP Olivia Chow introduced a National Public Transit Strategy. In a press release<\/a>, the NDP said Canada was the only OECD member state without one. From the release:<\/p>\n

\u201cCanadians deserve fast, reliable, affordable and accessible public transit,\u201d said Chow. \u201cEvery year billions of dollars are lost due to traffic congestion while simultaneously transit authorities struggle to meet demands.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Chow\u2019s legislation outlines a strategy for the federal government to:<\/p>\n